challenges of applying the teaching methodology of (celta

Studies in English Language Teaching

ISSN 2372-9740 (Print) ISSN 2329-311X (Online)

Vol. 8, No. 1, 2020

www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/selt

53

Original Paper

Challenges of Applying the Teaching Methodology of (CELTA)

Productive Skills in a Poor Learning Environment and a Fragile

Infrastructure Region of Darfur, Sudan

Dr. Abdulghani Eissa Tour Mohammed1*

1 Department of English Language & Translation, College of Science & Arts, Arrass, Qassim

University, K.S.A

Received: January 9, 2020 Accepted: January 18, 2020 Online Published: February 2, 2020

doi:10.22158/selt.v8n1p53 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/selt.v8n1p53

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating challenges of applying the teaching methodology of (CELTA)

productive skills in a poor learning environment and a fragile infrastructure region of Darfur, Sudan.

(CELTA) is a teacher training course that consists of 200 guided learning hours including 6 hours of

teaching practice and stands for “Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages”.

Candidates who apply for the course aim at acquiring the knowledge and the familiarity of the effective

teaching principles. However, applying the methodology of such an internationally recognized

qualification that addresses the communicative language learning requires intensive usage of some

modern teaching materials. Accordingly, its applicability seems extremely challenging in a poor

learning environment with a fragile infrastructure similar to the situation of Darfur region.

Furthermore, the difficulties of its implementation definitely prevent hundreds of students from learning

facilitates and opportunities that are only attainable via courses in which the learners’ needs are highly

considered. We can also be certain that through the application of such a course student develops

learning speaking and writing skills respectively simply because the course methodology provides a

great opportunity of practicing the language compared to the traditional teaching methodologies. In

this study the researcher is reflecting on his experience in teaching EFL via utilizing (CLT) techniques

in such a way CELTA course is taught. Furthermore, the researcher aims at illustrating the importance

of reducing teacher’s (TTT) and increasing the (STT) in EFL classes in Darfur, Sudan. The study also

attempts to highlight the role of the private sector and voluntary organizations in promoting the

educational process in the region. We can therefore say that the difficulties mentioned above have

begun to diminish with the presence of some voluntary organizations such as Malam Darfur Peace and

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Development.

A qualitative method for data collection and analysis is adapted in which the researcher interviews

some EFL instructors who are currently based in KSA and actually happened to CELTA qualification.

The interview questions are conducted to examine their experiences on how the methodology of this

course is applicable in different contexts. Finally, the study resulted into the following findings:

1. Teaching and learning the (CELTA) productive skills in a poor learning environment is difficult.

2. Still traditional teaching methods is dominating the EFL classes in Darfur, Sudan.

3. Some voluntary organizations regularly contribute to the development of the learning

environment in the region of Darfur.

Keywords

CELTA, EFL, poor learning environment, productive skills, voluntary organizations

1. Introduction

CELTA stands for the “Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages”. CELTA is a

teacher training course runs by Cambridge Assessment English, a department of Cambridge University.

The course is regularly conducted all over the world in a number of official centres. Among these

authorized centres are the British Council and the Institute of Language Studies (International House)

where the researcher has successfully accomplished the course after being enrolled at the official centre

of Izmir, Turkey in 2018. Candidates who apply for the course have to fulfill 200 guided learning hours

including 6 hours of teaching practice to meet the course requirements. They also aim at acquiring the

knowledge and the familiarity of the effective teaching principles. Additionally, the course addresses

adults via supporting its candidate to acquire a range of practical skills that enable them to teach

English to their particular group of learners. Furthermore, the course provides its candidates a great

opportunity to demonstrate their abilities towards learning teaching in a real context. Therefore, those

who successfully completed the course can easily teach English language skills in different settings.

Developing a global English language-teaching career has motivated the researcher to take the course

during the summer of 2018. Honestly speaking, as being a part of it, the course has enabled the

researcher to learn the above-mentioned principles and the knowledge of effective English language

teaching. When comparing his teaching experiences before and after the course, we can say that

CELTA has totally changed the researcher’s concern about teaching. For instance, before taking the

course, the researcher is used to believe in a teacher – centred class where mostly everything is

dominated by the teacher. However, managing a learner – centred class where students involve in a real

learning environment with a little role of a teacher acting as a team coach is now evident through this

international course. Moreover, the researcher had an opportunity to learn many other minor teaching

techniques such as the importance of conducting concept checking questions (CCQS) that are harder to

be acquired before applying and completing the course. This study attempts at investigating challenges

of teaching and learning English productive skills in such a way that the researcher had experienced



during the CELTA course. It is also endeavouring to determine how CELTA teaching methodology is

difficult to be applied in a poor learning environment of Darfur region in Sudan.

1.1 Statement of the Study Problem

In Darfur where the researcher was born, grown up, and studied, the issue of learning environment was

initially fragile before the outbreak of the ongoing war in 2003. However, the fragile infrastructure has

become worse during the last decade. And the impact of the destructive war is now evident. For

instance, most schools in rural areas are constructed of temporary materials where the overcrowding

classes are full of hundreds of students who lack even shelters in some cases. Although the researcher

has successfully happened to the CELTA qualification and can easily apply its strong points while

teaching EFL. However, its applicability in a fragile region of Darfur is extremely challenging

compared to learning environment the researcher is used to in Saudi Arabia where he has been working

since 2003. It seems as if the application of such a vital course requires a robust infrastructure where

students have access to some input facilities such as tapes recoding, CDs, DVDs, speakers, headphones,

smartboards, etc. Unfortunately, the poor learning environment to some extent prevents the usage of

technology and reduces the EFL learners’ opportunity to have access to various motivated learning aids.

Even watching the news or any programme broadcast by the international English medium channels are

not common in most EFL classes in the region. Additionally, problems of seating, lack of concrete

buildings, shortages of teachers as well as shortages of school textbooks are among the impediments

that contribute to the difficulties of applying CELTA theories in such poor learning environment.

Teaching EFL in the region is regularly done through adapting the traditional teaching approach of

lecturing where classes are controlled by teachers. Most students on the other hand remain as passive

listeners and that is why the poor-quality input represented in lacking of the tangible meaningful

exposure resulted into the poor output of speaking and writing. In terms of designing, the literature

review displays that the standard EFL class is taking a shape of a horseshoe to meet the requirements of

the communicative learning approach in which every single student has the opportunity to participate,

engage and work with other peers while classes. Lack of rapport is also common in classes of (50/ 80)

students as it is the case of most public schools in Darfur up to present. Rapport is sometimes defined

as a situation where teachers are generally being friendly to their students. Addressing students is also

challenging predominantly when dealing with large classes, for instance, teachers may simply ignore to

welcome the late comers, and they may do little towards supporting students’ engagement with the

subject being taught. Challenges of learning students’ names are also common in large classes and may

contribute in preventing the formation of a strong rapport. Therefore, the researcher believes that in

most EFL classes in Darfur, traditional teaching methodology is still extensively used by teachers who

have learned to increase their teaching talking time versus reducing the students talking time and

turning them into passive listeners.

1.2 Study Questions

This study attempts to answer the following questions:



1- How is CELTA methodology applicable in different contexts?

2- How does its application influence the development of English productive skills in various

contexts?

3- How can some private sectors contribute in rehabilitating a good educational infrastructure in

Darfur, Sudan?

1.3 Study Hypotheses

1- CELTA productive skills are difficult to apply in a fragile educational environment of Darfur.

2- Difficulties of applying the CELTA teaching methodology influence the development of English

productive skills.

3- Some private sectors regularly contribute in developing a good educational infrastructure in

Darfur region.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Teaching Writing

The literature review shows a very strong connection between the receptive skills and the productive

skills. In Communicative Language Teaching, the four language skills were taught in an integrated way,

supporting one after another, however, learning environment can negatively impact the quality of both

the input as well as the output sessions. Since listening was primarily used as a prompter or a first step

before productive skills, it is found that the listening text should be delivered in a non-distractive

manner that is suitable for the target group of learners (Wilson, 2008). For instance, we cannot expect

students to produce language effectively without being exposed to meaningful input sessions. Harmer

(1991, p. 188) clarifies this situation by saying that students will not interact appropriately with the

spoken and written materials (productive skills) unless we do something to wake up their reading and

listening desire (receptive skills). Thus, considering an ideal learning environment is extremely

important when it comes to teaching and learning receptive skills that motivate students for better

production of the language. Yet, it seems as if the fragile learning environment of Darfur is only

suitable for the application of the traditional teaching methods that do not stimulate students’ critical

thinking. According to Bello (1997, pp. 83-85) writing is an important avenue for thinking, but

unfortunately the traditional curriculum failed because it has given little attention to this vital skill.

Thus, establishing a good learning environment in the region requires concerted effort of diverse

sectors to meet the realization of the learners’ output prospects.

Reflecting on the intensive feedback over his teaching practice during the CELTA course, the researcher

has learned that a writing lesson starts with lead – in as a first stage. The aim of this stage is to create a

context for the writing task to stimulate known vocabulary as well as getting students engaged and have a

good interest in the lesson. During this stage candidates usually bring to the class real objects such

watches, smart phones or posters. Students discuss what they know about these objects with the guidance

of the teacher. For example, candidates can have students discuss the price of a watch, make, quality or



any other features they know about. The second stage in teaching writing is a gist reading of a given text.

Writing is a permanent reading companion, simply because it is difficult to write in any field without

previous readings. The significance of reading is clearly stated by Troike (2006, p. 155) who believes

that reading is a very important device which enables learners to improve both the L2 academic

competence as well as the interpersonal functions to get along in any literate society. Therefore, in this

particular stage of a gist reading, the reading text aims at providing students with a good example as a

model to read quickly and get an overview as well as getting an overall understanding of it. In so doing,

readers go through several integrated activities while reading. First, they attempt to identify the precise

topic and each change of topic. Second, they activate the ideas that have been stored in their minds to

make sense of what they have just read (Davies & Pearse, 2000, p. 90), as quoted by Grabe (2009, p.

4).

To have an active learner – centred class, candidates can simply highlight things about the model text and

ask students to create their own written text. The aim of the next stage is to enable students learn some

key issues such as learning structure and lay out as well as picking up useful language reflecting on the

given model. It is found that students’ writing abilities can be developed through adapting different

approaches while classes. For instance, Kapka and Oberman (2001, p. 73) found that modeling students

to write in different genres, different writing knowledge and abilities was effective in developing

students’ writing capabilities. Moreover, Kowalewski et al. (2002, p. 107) argue that when giving

students enough time for practice, they become a model for the writing process. Furthermore, they use

the well-written samples which aim at making the production of their own writing a main objective,

and this is how students develop the writing skills. Whatever writing approach candidates attempt to

choose in this stage, their layout may consist of some facts about the watch, for instance, its model, brand,

main features and cost followed by a short paragraph that guide students to the task completion. To

examine the layout; students have to apply it to their own writing. In so doing, students try to match the

headings with things they like in the watch as mentions by the writer in the paragraph.

To enrich students’ vocabulary building as well as language awareness, candidates can effectively use the

text to improve their writing skills depending on the type of text itself. Additionally, candidates could ask

them to add words with either positive and negative meanings or expressions, and then classify the words

into two different columns while reading out the text. It is also important to say that during this stage,

increasing the feedback will certainly make the whole process more engaging and may create a

collaborative classroom. Given, collaborative learning environment is mostly achievable with the

implementation of pair work or group work before students provide the final task. In the subsequent stage

students state their ideas clearly through conducting a brainstorming activity, making notes and practice

gathering ideas. So, during this stage students work in pairs or groups to share ideas about the selected

watch decided in the review example. They generally state the things they like or dislike about the text in

a form of making notes and this is how students develop sentence structure awareness since no one is a

native speaker of writing, but it is all about practice. Unlike speech, writing is not learned naturally by



everyone but through explicit instruction (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996); as Leki put it (1992, p. 10), “ no one

is a “native speaker” of writing”.

Furthermore, students now organise their notes in a logical manner and start making a rough plan

depending on the text type. Then, practically, students begin writing the first draft meanwhile the

teacher’s role is to monitor and act as a resource. He/ she only interferes to clarify a piece of language and

offer necessary advice. Moreover, the teacher needs to make sure that students have enough time to

reshape their ideas and think critically about their review text model. The aim of the upcoming stage is to

see students showing areal ability in developing, organising and expressing their ideas to construct a text.

In this stage they also use relevant language to demonstrate their creativity in producing a good written

manuscript. French and Rhoder (1992, p. 70) argue that writing is one of the most tasks that we can be

asked to perform. Therefore, it could be viewed as the main area in the curriculum that we associate

with creativity. So, it is extremely important, to improve EFL students’ composition since writing is

believed to be significant skills which learners need to develop throughout their schooling. For further

proof reading and checking up spelling mistakes or some punctuation marks problems, the following

procedures are possibly effective. Students could read for self-correction to correct their mistakes, or

perhaps they could swap with a partner to peer checking. Although revising is a difficult stage for

students as found by (Kapka ve Oberman, 2001), however, with the guidance of the teacher they may

manage to get it done. Thus, for more revision, students’ assessment of the written draft can take place

via sharing the draft text with a writing group and then they rearrange the content according to

feedback from the group members. In this stage, the students might expand the text with new ideas or

remove the unnecessary parts. Meanwhile, the job of the teacher is to give clear instruction ranging from

simple to a much fuller checklist depending on both the level of the students and the complexity of the

writing text. Students are then going to revise and edit their tasks to develop a kind of self –correction

ability and be able to assess their written work. This is where they start thinking critically about their

written work, making necessary changes before producing the final version. Afterwards, students move

towards improving their product and focusing on accuracy during the next writing stage. Truly, when we

write we always consider our audience purposefully. For instance, after writing an assignment candidate

pass it to someone and wait for the feedback in the form of grades or comments. Thus, while classes

teachers also need to provide students with some kind of an audience and feedback simply because they

want to know their weaknesses and strengths regarding the overall usage of correct spelling, the grammar

rules and vocabulary building. According to Bello (1997, p. 83) writing, as a productive language skill,

plays an essential role in promoting language acquisition as learners experiment with words, sentences,

and large chunks of writing to communicate their ideas effectively and to reinforce the grammar and

vocabulary they learn in class. This process is simply accomplished when the teacher decides to collect

in the writing pieces and mark them. After receiving a productive feedback, students could publish their

work to have a sense of task completion and they could compare their work with other texts to know the

areas where they did well and the ones they need to improve in the upcoming future.



In some cases, students might be asked to state their ideas clearly using more complex sentences while

writing a text. Complex sentences are to some extent challenging to students because they consist of two

or more clauses. A learner may understand and use complex sentences containing one subordinate clause,

but he/she may find it difficult to cope with a sentence where two or more subordinate clauses are

clustered together. According to Parrott, “the more complex the ideas we want to convey, the more

complex we make the sentences we use to convey these ideas” (Parrott, p. 444). And it is the role of

teachers to enable students understand how sentences are used in a real teaching situation and then give a

feedback based on the correction of the students’ written works.

2.2 Teaching Speaking

As stated above, we cannot expect students to have a good production of language without being access

to effective input sessions. According to Edward (1990, p. 3): “Listening is an art; and in order to

perfect it people must take responsibility for at least their 50 percent of the communication process.

“Like prospecting for gold a person may never know when they might strike it rich”.

If listening is an art or it is comparable to gold prospecting operations, we then believe that it is quality

requires skillful instruments and tools to make it more brilliant and thus it seems challenging to be

attainable in a fragile learning environment similar to the case study of Darfur region. In other words,

the quality of language production is always associated with the meaningful exposure of the input

sessions. Krashen (1985) pointed out that second language learning was similar to first language

acquisition, thus listening was the first step on the way to language proficiency. Based upon Krashen’s

Input Hypothesis (1985), learners could learn best by exposure to comprehensible input which was

slightly beyond their current level competence.

Similar to writing, speaking is also a productive skill in which the students’ are requested to produce the

language after being committed to concrete input. Therefore, teaching speaking is not actually different

compared to writing, except in ordering the lesson stages, speaking has a bit of flexibility. The ordering

differences of the stages are chosen according to the kind of speaking task that the teacher wants students

to complete and the speaking sub-skills they are going to develop. In a poor learning environment it is

also important to consider the quality of the listening materials before students are asked to speak or

produce the target language. The literature review shows that oral language was primary to written

language and listening comprehension should precede speech production as stated by Asher (1977) in

his theory of Total Physical Response. He also emphasized that learners were supposed to listen and

obey the orders given by the instructor through actions.

Furthermore, when teaching English to speakers of other languages, some sounds differences might

occur. Therefore, teachers have to be aware of what difficulties students may encounter before deciding

to practice those areas again and again to enable students overcome them. Since some English sounds

do not have equivalent in many languages, students are expected to have problems pronouncing

particular words.

This is true when some speakers of Arabic language attempt to pronounce words consisting of (/b/ /p/)



sounds. The two English dissimilar consonants with the same mouth position are very problematic for

Arab learners of English. The reason behind such difficulties is the fact that Arabic language has one

sound in equivalent to the voiceless /p/ and the voice /b/ sounds of English. Accordingly, Arab L1

speakers sometimes mispronounce words such as people /ˈpiːpl/ and practice /ˈpræktɪs/, when they

unintentionally replaced and confused the voiced and the unvoiced /p/, /b/ usages. In other words, they

borrow the characteristics of their L1 to overcome the problem, but instead they worsen it. This

situation is linguistically known as mother tongue interference and would regularly result into

mispronunciation difficulties.

Similarly Turkish L1 speakers also find it difficult to cope with the following sounds (|θ| and / ð/

simply because these sounds do not occur in Turkish, and they give a great deal of difficulty (Swan,

Michael, 2011, p. 216). During the researcher’s teaching practice sessions, he had noticed that some

students interchange the sound of / ð with the /t/ sound. So, the researcher had decided to choose some

activities to enable students to go for too much repetition of these two sounds. A repetition aims at

making learners experience the movement of the speech organs, especially, the tongue, the mouth and

the jaws. We finally think that the students will enjoy this because most of them want to speak English

fluently. Fortunately, teachers can use several listening sources available to enable student overcome

such difficulties. For example, various listening sources such as teacher talk, student talk, guest

speakers, textbook recordings, TV, video, DVD, radio, songs and the internet can be used in a language

classroom (Wilson, 2008). However, it seems as if lack of listening resources is behind the poor

language production of EFL students in a fragile learning environment of Darfur since in a listening

phenomenon, the use of appropriate listening sources has a crucial effect in comprehension.

2.3 Teaching the Productive Skills in a Fragile Infrastructure Region of Darfur

As an eye witness, the researcher would like to say that in some contexts CELTA theories cannot be

applied without having the necessary tools assigned to them. Hence, with a fragile educational system

and a poor infrastructure similar to the situation of Darfur, it is hard to expect a good production of

language skills simply because the quality of the input correlates with the quality of the output. In other

words, no one could expect students to have access to a meaningful exposure of listening input sessions

in a situation where students lack shelters, seating, electrical energy, listening equipment, etc. The

literature review shows that implementation of technology in today’s EFL classes is extremely

important. For instance, Garrett (1991, p. 95) found that technological improvements have increased

the types of listening resources in recent years. Thus, teachers as well as students can access listening

materials easily via the internet. Furthermore, the computer and interactive technologies allow teachers

to select materials of all kinds. They also support teachers to determine the learners’ needs, and use the

visual options of screen presentation or the interactive capabilities of computer controls to help students

develop good listening techniques. As pointed out above, applying the teaching methodology of

CELTA course is challenging under the current situation of the poor educational infrastructure in the

region. However, with the birth of some voluntary organizations such as Malam Darfur Peace and



Development couple of years ago, we can be certain that these difficulties began to diminish. The

presence of this voluntary organization in the region contributed to the construction and reconstruction

process of numerous vital institutions that have been destroyed as a direct effect of war particularly.

The organization is named after Al-Malam area in South Darfur State which is located at the strategic

crossroads between the two main cosmopolitan cities in Darfur (Al-Fashir & Nyala). As the name

suggests, the organization was born with multiple purposes that contribute for sustainable peace and

development in the region. Nonetheless, it is impact on education sector was vital particularly when it

comes to rehabilitation of the overall educational institutions and the provision of modern educational

materials to the schools of the territory. For example, the literature review shows that the organization

has assisted the local communities in Al-Malam and the surrounding villages by providing integrated

services for the development of some educational projects. The integrated services include the

refurbishment of basic schools, the supply of student seating and the provision of essential school

materials to a substantial number of students. Generally speaking, we can say that what has been

accomplished by the organization, had deeply convinced hundreds of people from Al- Malam and the

surrounding villages of Kailla and Turbo to leave the displaced camps around the two cosmopolitan

cities (Al-Fashir & Nyala) as well as the town of Shangel Tobai to return back to their abandoned

villages. Fortunately, the strong voluntary return had its positive impact on turning the wheel of the

production chains in the entire region. Moreover, the flow of returnees is ongoing as many displaced

are intending to go back for cultivating their ancestral land including the researcher himself. This

voluntary repatriation was not possible without the huge efforts presented by the organization and more

precisely by two local boys who have been dedicating their life for the sustainable development of the

region and the stability of its people. In names the researcher would like to salute the efforts carried by

Mr. Lukman Ahmed, the Chief Washington Correspondent of BBC Arabic TV and Mr. Ataib

Mohammed Abdulrasol, a generous local boy based in Saudi Arabia for making the dreams of many

displaced come true via supporting a huge program for stability and boosting development. Their

courageous efforts are clear in terms of funding and from the point of view of a public profile. They

have been contributing financially through convincing multiple international funding organizations

including the Isalmic Development Bank (ISDB) for carrying out a formidable job towards the

re-establishment of returnees. Now the strong voluntary return profile has convinced the (ISDB)

delegate to conduct a field visit to the region in order to found more development projects including the

establishment of new secondary and basic schools. Of course these efforts can truly establish for

continued grounds that strengthen the hope for the reality of voluntary repatriation to a large number of

displaced people. No doubt that the birth of this organization has represented as a hope that comes like

a light in the midst of darkness. Simply because the organization has also contributed in supporting

various service sectors in the region. For instance, the literature review shows that the organization has

provided medical supplies and contributed in solar energy projects to secure drinking water sources and

drilling wells for the much needy ones. Moreover, Malam Darfur Peace and Development organization

https://context.reverso.net/translation/english-arabic/student+seating

https://context.reverso.net/الترجمة/الإنجليزية-العربية/voluntary+repatriation

https://context.reverso.net/الترجمة/الإنجليزية-العربية/and+boosting+development

https://context.reverso.net/الترجمة/الإنجليزية-العربية/a+reality

https://context.reverso.net/الترجمة/الإنجليزية-العربية/voluntary+repatriation



has also been providing significant contribution in different areas including education not only to the

local community of Malam, but also to the people of the entire region of Darfur.

Therefore, the researcher is very optimistic that through the contribution of such voluntary

organizations the region will witness a distinguish education system. To mention just a few, it may

witness the establishment of modern schools and the development of learning and teaching facilities

that facilitate the implementation of the communicative learning approach. As noted previously, the

researcher is reflecting on accumulative knowledge on the basis of his teaching experience in Saudi

Arabia where the issue of infrastructure is not among the hindrances of applying the methodology of

the communicative learning. But, it seems as if the fragile infrastructure is the main obstacle that

prevents the application of these approaches in Darfur. Moreover, when comparing the situation of the

infrastructure in Darfur with what the researcher had experienced in Turkey during the CELTA course,

truly speaking, the difference is very huge. Accordingly, supporting and encouraging the efforts

presented by the non-governmental organizations such as Malam Darfur Peace will positively impact

the stability of the local communities in the region. And will definitely contribute to the reconstruction

and rehabilitation processes of the totally destroyed infrastructure, especially the educational

institutions.

3. Material and Methods

The data collection process is undertaken via a qualitative method where the researcher interviews

some CELTA candidates to shed light on their teaching approaches before and after experiencing the

qualification. The study attempts to determine the differences they have observed in a real EFL context

after they have successfully completed the course. The following questions were put forward for the

data collection procedures.

1. How is CELTA methodology applicable in different contexts?

(Before taking the course, teaching, for me, refers to some considerations of respected teachers and my

own assumption of what should be down inside the class. In other words, the matter went on without a

touch of enough teaching knowledge. However, the application of the course methodology requires

some modern instruction and teaching methods which are rarely found in some remote areas in Sudan.

Therefore, we think that the participation of some private sectors and civil society organizations is vital

in providing educational aids to meet the demands of the establishment of modern educational system

in these remote areas.

2. How does its application influence the development of English productive skills in various

contexts?

(There are many things to mention, but the most remarkable are neat lesson planning, perfection of the

lead-in and the importance of setting a context before introducing the target lesson. Furthermore,

students may encounter some problems such as poor quality of receptive skills that correlates with the

quality of the productive skills as well.)



3. How can some private sectors contribute in rehabilitating a good educational infrastructure in the

region?

(Voluntary organizations can contribute to the reconstruction processes of educational institutions

through their ability to obtain external support as well as through the contributions of charitable

members from the region.)

4. Summary and Findings

Reflecting on the above questions, it is to be said that CELTA course has totally changed the

researcher’s concept about EFL learning and teaching. The course has also resulted into an overall

teaching improvement for those being interviewed. First, the researcher has joined the course with an

accumulative experience of teaching large classes with maximum (50) and above students particularly

during the last five years in Qassim University. With reflection to the teaching approach in such a

teacher - centred classes, the researcher could say that it was mainly a lecturing one where students

were just passive listeners. However, after CELTA course the researcher is used to teaching large

classes through focusing on mini lectures. For instance, the entire class of three hours could be broken

down into small segments, of (30) minutes lecture followed by a feedback to keep the class active.

Likewise, the researcher also learned the importance of the pair work, as well as the group work

discussion regardless the size of the class. Concerning the study subjects being interviewed, the most

remarkable things they learned from the course are the importance of the neat lesson planning,

perfection of the lead-in and the significance of setting a context before introducing the target lesson.

However, applying these tangible theories in Darfur region is extremely difficult unless decision

makers invest more money to improve the quality of the overall educational environment. And the good

news is that some private-sector organizations have been working hard in order to promote the teaching

and learning environment in the region. To sum up this section, it can be said that the researcher’s

overall EFL teaching quality has been improved after happening to CELTA qualification. Additionally,

a huge changes in learning teaching large classes have been achieved simply because teachers can also

learn how to teach reflecting on their experiences and training courses as found by Scrivener, who

clearly stated that “it is not just the students who do the learning, but you do as well” (p. 370).

5. Recommendations

Foremost, private sectors are requested to come forward to run educational institutions so as to

eradicate the educational gap in the region.

It is extremely important to encourage and support the efforts of the voluntary organizations such

as Malam Darfur Peace and Development to realize the hopes and aspirations of the people of the

region via contributing and providing essential educational facilities.

It is also important to understand the organization’s successful experiences in supporting the

education sector and to consider it as a role model throughout Darfur region.

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http://www.reverso.net/translationresults.aspx?lang=EN&sourcetext=من%20المهم%20الوقوف%20علي%20تجربة%20المنظمة%20الناجحة%20في%20دعم%20البنيات%20الاساسية%20لقطاع%20التعليم%20واعتباره%20نموذجا%20يحتدي%20به&direction_translation=ara-eng-5&action_form=translate



The efforts of the local boys must be combined at home and abroad in backing the educational

process in the region with necessary material and financial support.

We also recommend many more domestic organizations to work together with the international

organizations to advance the educational process in the entire region of Darfur.

Abbreviations

CELTA: Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

CLT: Communicative language teaching

TP: Teaching Practice

CCQS: Concept Checking Questions

TTT: Teacher Talking Time

STT: Student Talking Time

TB: Task-Based

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challenges of applying the teaching methodology of (celta

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